Best Ever Kale Salad

This post is sponsored by Natures Greens. I received compensation, but all opinions are my own.

First it was trendy to hate kale, then it became trendy to eat kale for every single meal, now it seems like people either enjoy kale from time to time or hate it because they were served a lame kale salad during the kale craze that made them turn their back on this delicious green. I have created the best ever kale salad to hopefully change peoples minds!! There is no disguising it, this is a bowl full of greens, but it is massaged in a rich and delicious dressing and tossed with parmesan cheese making it tasty enough for the staunchest of kale haters.

The dressing for the best ever kale salad is one I have been playing with for years making one variation or another. The key to making it nice and creamy is using soaked cashews as a base. You need to allow the cashews to soak long enough that they will become creamy when blended. If you’ve done this before, you know that a blended cashew is a magical thing. You can use that to make cheese or vegan desserts, but my favorite has to be dressings. As I type this my mind is wandering to a creamy chipotle dressing that I had that I think I will remake with cashews ASAP. Okay, now back to the kale!

For the best ever kale salad I picked up a bag of Nature’s Greens Kale Greens at my local BJ’s. The giant bag is perfect for this best ever kale salad because, trust me, you will want to make a lot. I first go through the bag and pick out all the hard stems. This step can be tedious, but it will make any kale salad much more enjoyable. Once I’ve picked through all of the stems I will take the greens give them a rough chop to make sure all of the kale pieces are bite sized. Another way to make this salad is to slice the kale into small shredded pieces. This style is even better for the people who generally don’t like the texture of greens because the dressing soaks into each piece.

I paired my best ever kale salad with a cast iron skillet cooked chicken breast and some simple chopped cherry tomatoes. I love how flavorful this kale salad is because it allows you to play around with the pairings. I could honestly eat this salad alone or with some crispy chickpeas or definitely some roasted salmon. The best ever kale salad comes together in no time at all provided you have prepped your cashews ahead of time. I like to soak mine overnight in the refrigerator, but if I’m short on time I boil water in my kettle and pour boiling water over the raw cashews and allow them to soak for at least an hour. From there its simply just placing the ingredients in a blender and letting the flavors come together! Pour the dressing over the kale and massage it in with your hands. Then pour on a generous amount of parmesan cheese, mix that all up and you’re ready to serve! You can find the full recipe down below and, as always, if you make this recipe please share your creations with me on Instagram!

Best Ever Kale Salad

Yield: 6 servings

Author: Madeline Tague

prep time: 5 Mcook time: 10 Mtotal time: 15 M

ingredients:

16 oz kale greens

1/2 cup raw cashews

1 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 cup avocado oil or light oil of choice

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

instructions:

How to cook Best Ever Kale Salad

Soak cashews overnight in water in the refrigerator or do a quick soak by pouring boiling water over the cashews and allowing them to soak for an hour

Place soaked cashews, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper in a high speed blender and blend until smooth

With the blender running on low, slowly stream in the oil through the top

Once all of the oil has been incorporated, blend for a while on medium

Place chopped and de-stemmed kale in a large mixing bowl and pour about 1 cup of the dressing over the kale

Massage thoroughly with your hands and pour parmesan cheese over the salad